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Sarasota
Wed Sep 11, 2013
1 year ago

SOS passes inspections; allegations unfounded

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by:
Robin Hartill
Managing Editor

Since July, Save Our Seabirds has had five unannounced inspections, in addition to a mold inspection, after the Sarasota City Commission directed city staff to investigate allegations former volunteers and staffers leveled.

But the inspections didn’t yield any smoking guns.

“No issues have been noted in any of the inspection reports and testing, and none of the accusations have been founded,” said Mary Tucker, purchasing manager for the city of Sarasota, during the Sept. 3 commission meeting.

City staff had reported that the SOS facility, which is located on a city-owned parcel on City Island, was clean and free of rats and dead birds during a June 20 unannounced inspection.

But past volunteers and employees claimed otherwise during the July commission meeting. They told the commission that they had seen rats kill or maim birds, that the facility was inadequate and that black mold covered parts of the ceiling.

FWC made an unannounced inspection of the facility two days after the July meeting and determined the facility to be “in overall good condition with all pools clean, adequate perching and enclosures safe for the birds” and that the records and record-keeping system at the facility has “vastly improved” since a previous inspection conducted April 27, 2011.

The only discrepancy noted in the report was the need for additional shelter for some larger birds during heavy rains.